Song Lyric of the Day:
Half of the time we’re gone but we don’t know where / And we don’t know where
Simon & Garfunkel / “Only Living Boy in New York”
9:49PM.
Exhaustion led me to have my mom’s cousin, Sixto, and my own godmother, Flora, kicked out early Saturday night. We’d been up since about 1AM and had a long day, and as tired as Samantha and I were, we weren’t going to be able to get any sleep with everyone yapping. So I got them tossed from Carmelita’s apartment.
Sunday morning, Mom, Samantha, Carmelita, and I all got ready for Aunt Bea’s wedding. Long story short, the car company Bea hired to take us to The Lobster Box on City Island never came, so we had to grab a cab instead and got there late. We still had a good time and enjoyed getting fed good food and meeting new people, though. My tablemates included the
man who performed the ceremony, his wife, and her sister. We had a fantastically flamboyant server named–wait for it–Genesis. Seriously. He was, of course, totally faboo and a big flirt (“Oh, my gosh, you are so tall, I love it!”). More than anything, though, I was ecstatic to see my precious aunt so happy. I’m thrilled for her and Louis. It’s not easy finding someone who understands you completely, loves you no matter your faults, makes you laugh, treats you well, and makes you happy. Bea and Louis have managed to find that, and more, in each other. Here’s to a long, happy life for them.
After the wedding, we went back to Carmelita’s apartment, where Samantha and I changed and immediately headed back out to explore the city some more. I did not succeed in my mission to find some unique fabrics for Rich (for art backdrops), so we went back and watched the Desperate Housewives finale. Basically I watched it because I was too tired to do much of anything else.
Monday morning, a coworker of mine at Food Network graciously gave us a tour of their amazing offices; she knew I would be in town and had offered to show me around. Highlights of the tour included walking through the gigantic, industrial kitchen (alas, no food samples) and walking around the set of Guy’s Big Bite in the same studio where Emeril Live and Iron Chef America are filmed. After our tour, Mom, Carmelita, Samantha, and I walked around the rest of the building, during which time I hit Fat Witch Bakery to pick up some brownies for the gang at work. We then headed over to Times Square to look for somewhere to grab lunch. We were on a fairly tight schedule as we had to go back to the apartment, pick up our things, and head to the airport. I refused to eat at Sbarro’s (I wanted genuine New York pizza), so Mom and Carmelita ate while Samantha and I looked for souvenirs. The three of them headed back to the apartment so I could zip over to the garment district and hopefully find fabrics for Rich.
I ended up finding a pizzeria Rich and I ate at on our last trip and wolfed a slice down so quickly the owner kept sending furtive glances my way via the wall mirrors. I guess he hadn’t seen someone eat that quickly in a while. I then continued setting a landspeed record on my run/walk to the garment district. The second store I hit had fabrics I deemed backdrop-worthy, so I picked a couple up. Actually retaining a sense of direction, I decided to head to the big subway entrance at 42nd street, since that way I could grab the one train back to Carmelita’s and not have to worry about transferring. I’m flying past a building (yes, I was walking that quickly) when, lo and behold, who do I notice running lines against the wall? Cameron Mathison, aka Ryan Lavery on All My Children.
Me being me, I screeched to a halt:
“Excuse me? You’re Ryan Lavery on All My Children aren’t you?”
He looks up from the script. “Yes, I am.” Holy shit, his eyes are wayyyyyy bluer than they look on TV. Wedding band on. So not filming for AMC.
“Could I impose on you for a picture?”
“Sure, but I’m in the middle of this right now. Could you wait a few minutes?”
“Okay.”
I started fidgeting a bit, because I was starting to worry that I would be late getting back and I didn’t want to miss my flight home. I decided to say something.
“Excuse me. Do you have any idea how much longer? I don’t want to be a pest, but I’m kind of on my way to catch a flight.”
“Oh, okay. Less than five minutes. Is that okay?”
“Yep.”
Not even two minutes later, he breaks away from the script. I hand my camera to the production assistant with whom he was running lines, and Cameron Mathison(!!!) wraps his arm around my shoulders for a picture. I, in turn, wrap an arm around his waist and lean in close. I was in hog heaven–he was nice, beautiful, and tall. He’s quite tall in real life, about 6’2″.
“It’s Cameron Mathison, right?”
He smiled. “You can call me whatever you want.”
Click.
He squeezes my shoulder and shakes my hand. “Thanks so much for waiting.”
Beaming, I thank him for the photo and continue on my way to the subway. I call Mom just to tell her I met a celebrity, and that she’d never guess who–she’d just have to wait until I got back with the photographic evidence.
On the subway, I looked at my camera. My giddiness was tempered a bit when I realize the P.A. didn’t take a picture, he shot video instead. Well, at least I can watch it anytime I want.
I get back to the apartment and toss my camera to Samantha on my way to use the bathroom. A second later I hear Mom: “Son of a bitch! You met Cameron Mathison! I should’ve met him! You should’ve met Harrison Ford yesterday!”
Samantha was bummed, too: “Aw, man, I should’ve stayed with you!”
A few minutes and several video playbacks later, we gathered our stuff and headed outside to hail a cab for the airport.
The flight home was fine, but the drive just about finished me off. But we got home in one piece, which is all that matters.
I can’t wait for my next trip to New York. Who knows who I might meet then?
